Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

Charles Lyell

Another important figure, at about the same time as Darwin, was Charles Lyell (1797-1875). He realized that the earth was in a constant state of change, an idea which in turn led to many estimates from others of the earth’s age, which ranged from 20 million to about half a billion years. Though far from accurate these estimates were dramatically more than anything one might calculate from Biblical narratives. Evolution required a very old earth. This was old enough. But it would not be until the development of radiometric dating of uranium content in rocks that we would discover that the earth is about 4.5 billion years old.